Court concern over rising false rape cases by helps

A Delhi court has acquitted a man accused of raping his maid and expressed concern over rising false rape allegations by domestic helps.

Additional sessions judge Nivedita Anil Sharma observed that there was a spurt in false rape cases by domestic helps against their employers.

The judge said: "This trend requires to be nipped in the bud itself and the precious time of the government agencies i.e. the police, the prosecution, the judiciary etc should not be wasted."

The judge observed domestic workers who are being underpaid or detained by the employers for unusually long periods are invoking laws relating to sexual abuse.

The court made these observations while acquitting a west Delhi resident of the charges of raping his domestic help twice and threatening to kill her.

The prosecution said that in July 2012, the girl got the job of a domestic help at a monthly salary of Rs 8,000.

The girl had worked for two months but was paid only Rs 2,000 and was allegedly raped by the accused when she went to demand the arrears.

The girl, however, in her deposition claimed that she had never told the police that she was raped by the accused.

The help said she went to the police to lodge a complaint about non-payment of salary where she met an elderly man outside the police station, who inquired about her problem and made her put her thumb impression on some blank papers.